Tires - Honda Prelude Forum

whitesiprelude · 01-16-2002, 10:10 AM

What do you guys recomend for tires. (Brand and make) and how much did they set you back. Also how do the wear and how well did they handle wet or snow conditions. I want some performance as well.

Peace

whitesiprelude · 01-16-2002, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by whitesiprelude
What do you guys recomend for tires. (Brand and make) and how much did they set you back. Also how do the wear and how well did they handle wet or snow conditions. I want some performance as well.

Peace

Oh I forgot to mention these will go on my stock rims.

Peace

pter · 01-16-2002, 11:50 AM

Here's my experience with tires:
(note mostly I buy summer tires because I'm not *too* concerned about wet or snow conditions, so this might not apply to you).

Michelin XV4 or whatever, came stock. Hated them, not traction at all.

Yokohama AVS Intermediates 225/50/15 on stock rims. I liked them initially, but they were kind of loud (tended to squeal a lot) and wore out quickly ~25-30k miles.

Dunlop SP8000 225/50/15 on stock rims. These were much much better than the Yoks. Lasted me much longer ~45k miles/ 1 1/2 year with an autocross school on them. They were very grippy initially, after about 15k, they seemed to lose most of their grip but I still had tread. Very stiff sidewalls which I really enjoyed. Wore them down to the treadwear bars.

Currently I'm on Kumho Ecsta Supra 712 205/55/15. Yeah, I reverted back to stock size. On the Dunlops I noticed that I was getting some uneven wear. To get a good contact patch I had to inflate them up to 35-38psi for daily driving. This wore out the center of the tire, while hard driving ate up the outer shoulders of the tire. So I went back to stock sizing. The Kumho's are noticeably less grippy, and have less of a "seated" feeling. This might be due to the size and height of the tire though, so YMMV.

Pricewise:
Yoks were ~$96/tire
Dunlops were ~$90/tire
Kumhos were ~$90/tire

If you look hard, you can find good deals. I noticed that Discounttiredirect.com had the Kumho's for $69.99 recently. I hear that's close to wholesale pricing. But shipping and mounting and balancing costs would have set it over what I paid.
My Dunlops, I paid ~$65/tire, but mounting and balancing raised that to ~$75/tire.

whitesiprelude · 01-16-2002, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pter
Here's my experience with tires:
(note mostly I buy summer tires because I'm not *too* concerned about wet or snow conditions, so this might not apply to you).

Michelin XV4 or whatever, came stock. Hated them, not traction at all.

Yokohama AVS Intermediates 225/50/15 on stock rims. I liked them initially, but they were kind of loud (tended to squeal a lot) and wore out quickly ~25-30k miles.

Dunlop SP8000 225/50/15 on stock rims. These were much much better than the Yoks. Lasted me much longer ~45k miles/ 1 1/2 year with an autocross school on them. They were very grippy initially, after about 15k, they seemed to lose most of their grip but I still had tread. Very stiff sidewalls which I really enjoyed. Wore them down to the treadwear bars.

Currently I'm on Kumho Ecsta Supra 712 205/55/15. Yeah, I reverted back to stock size. On the Dunlops I noticed that I was getting some uneven wear. To get a good contact patch I had to inflate them up to 35-38psi for daily driving. This wore out the center of the tire, while hard driving ate up the outer shoulders of the tire. So I went back to stock sizing. The Kumho's are noticeably less grippy, and have less of a "seated" feeling. This might be due to the size and height of the tire though, so YMMV.

Pricewise:
Yoks were ~$96/tire
Dunlops were ~$90/tire
Kumhos were ~$90/tire

If you look hard, you can find good deals. I noticed that Discounttiredirect.com had the Kumho's for $69.99 recently. I hear that's close to wholesale pricing. But shipping and mounting and balancing costs would have set it over what I paid.
My Dunlops, I paid ~$65/tire, but mounting and balancing raised that to ~$75/tire.

Thanks for the feedback.

Peace

LoudLude · 01-16-2002, 02:00 PM

I am currently running the ecsta supras on 17" rims. I love these for the price I paid. Very grippy and excellent in wet weather.

If you want to shell out the money get the bridgestone potenza. i have only heard good things about them.

One of my buddies had yoko paradas and said they dont handle worth a damn in the rain.

crudelude · 01-16-2002, 03:16 PM

I have the Paradas on my 17"s for the summer. They are great as long as it doesn't rain! I have BFGoodrich VR4s on my stocks for the winter and I'm very happy with them.

On my S-10 I have Mastercraft (cheap) tires on my stocks for the winter and on my 17"s for the summer I have Bridgestone Potenzas. I'm very happy with the performance rain or shine.

On my fullsize truck I have the original ****ty tires on the original wheels for the winter and on my 17"s for the summer I have Michelin XGTV4s (or something like that) which stick to the road like crazy when it's dry but they are not worth a **** when it rains or snows. They wear out extremelly fast too.

My brother has Kumho Ecsta 712's on his stocks and 17"s for his Integra and I like them more than any tire that I have. Matter fact I have to buy tires soon for the fullsize and they will be the Kumhos! Hope this helps. Sorry for being so long.

Prelude3885 · 01-16-2002, 03:23 PM

those of you with 17 inch kumho's - it's what i have - what tire pressure are you running on? just curious, mine seems a little low....
-thanks

Machine Head · 01-16-2002, 07:32 PM

I'm running 17 inch NITTO NT550 street tires. these things are super sticky when they get hot and very responsive in wet or dry weather. they are also very forgiving on hard drivers.

I bought them with my rims so I don't know the indv pirice but I think they go for around $110 per tire.

I run Bridgstone blizacks on 15 inch steel wheels in the winter and they give me great snow/ice traction but they suck on dry pavement

G_Loc · 01-16-2002, 08:19 PM

are 225's really worth it on stock rims? i was thinking of installing 215's or 225's